ITLOTC
(In The Life Of The Church)
Pentecost
Stories from Our Congregation (by Toph)
Hello UBC Community. I look forward to Sundays; mainly because I get to see many of your masked smiling faces, and we can gather as a community and be formed more in the Spirit of the Divine. I am particularly looking forward to this Sunday as we have the initial offering of a new series: Stories from Our Congregation. Over the last year, I have been more acutely aware that we, as a full-time pastoral staff, are all white and cisgender. Representation matters and listening to the experiences and stories of people who exist in the world in different ways is vital to our formation. With this in mind, the first moment in listening to Stories from our Congregation will be hearing from BIPOC within our community. On Sunday, we will have opportunity to hear from Katie, Kerri, Gabe, and Marcus. We will have the privilege of listening to their stories of what it has been like to be a BIPOC over the last few years in America, hear why they chose and love UBC, and to hear their hopes for the Church and UBC in elevating the voices of BIPOC. UBC is a predominantly white, cisgender, heterosexual community, which is why these moments of Stories from Our Congregation will be an essential part of our formation moving forward. This Sunday, we are hearing from BIPOC within our community. In the future will have the opportunity to hear from UBC’ers who identify within the LGBTQIA+ community, and will have the privilege of their stories being part of our further conversion more into the image of Jesus. I get excited about a lot of things at UBC, but the creation of this new sometimes series of Stories from our Congregation is at the top of the list right now.
One other moment I am looking forward to in the next few weeks is our first Night of Belonging of the year. These nights are designed to educate ourselves on topics that the Church has traditionally not done a good job addressing. This Night of Belonging is highlighting the work of our friends at Jesus Said Love, and how we as Christians engage with the issue of commercial sex and sex trafficking. If you are college student or young adult, you should join us on September 30 at 8pm in the Backside at UBC. Here is a word from Brett and Emily: “How do we as Christ followers engage with the issue of commercial sex and sex trafficking? Is prostitution exploitive? Is porn use a big deal? Brett & Emily Mills, founders of Jesus Said Love, will host an education night focused on an overview of commercial sex exploitation, trafficking, the issue of demand, and understanding pornography in the context of exploitation and trafficking. After the presentation, Brett & Emily will host a time for curious questions and engagement. This conversation will cover triggering topics such as sexual violence and is recommended for a mature audience.”
Meet the UBCers
Team Oxhandler
Church Hurts Group
Hello friends, one of the more exciting things that has happened this summer was the release of Christianity Today’s podcast, “The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill.” The podcast, which is about the rise and fall of Seattle megachurch Mars Hill and her pastor Marc Driscoll, has also proven to be helpful commentary on the mega church experience. As a community who wants to continue to grown and learn, we are going gather weekly on Wednesdays at 6 P.M. to discuss the episodes. The first gathering will not require participants to have listened to anything, but the subsequent meetings will require listening to an episode of a week. Our first meeting will be Wednesday, September 29th @ 6:00 P.M. If you have any questions email josh@ubcwaco.org.
Upcoming Events
Weekly Pints with Toph @ Pinewood on Wednesdays from 6-8 P.M.
Weekly coffee with Toph @ Pinewood on Thursdays from 8-10 A.M.
9/29 “Church Hurts” Group (the Mars Hill Podcast Experience) Starts
9/30 Night of belonging
10/4 St. Francis Liturgy
10/10 nUBCers Lunch
10/13 Liturgy of Gratitude
11/2 All Saints/All Souls Liturgy
11/5-7 Fall retreat for college students
11/7 Bonfire
11/14 Lovefeast
12/9-10 Study Hall
Leadership Team
If you have a concern or an idea for UBC that you’d like to share with someone that is not on staff, feel free to contact one of our leadership team members.
Chair: Kathy Krey kathykrey@gmail.com
Ben Raley: Benjaminrale y@gmail.com
Bryce Sandvall: Bryce@holeintheroof.com
Katie Valenzuela: KatarinaEValenzuela@gmail.com
Luci Hoppe: lhoppe@gmail.com
Jose Zuniga: jzgrphix2002@yahoo.com
Taylor Torregrossa: Taylordtorregrossa@gmail.com
Student Position: Davis Misloski
Student Position: Maddy O’Shaughnessy
UBC Finance Team
Do you have a question about UBC’s financial affairs? Please feel free to contact any of your finance team members.
Catherine Ballas: catherine@refitrev.com
Jen Carron: jen.carron78@gmail.com
Mike Dodson: financeteammike@gmail.com
George Thornton: GeorgecCT1982@gmail.com
UBC HR Team
If you have concerns about staff and would like contact our human resources team, please feel free to email any of the following members.
Erin Hill: erin.albin1@gmail.com
Sam Goff: samuelgoff92@gmail.com
Craig Nash: Craig_Nash@baylor.edu
Kristen Howerton: khowerton94@gmail.com
Patrick Broaddus: patrickjbroaddus@gmail.com